by Stephanie Andrews

Created on: July 22, 2008

One of the most famous statements that comes to mind when thinking about happiness and all it entails, is the Declaration of Independence's statement that everyone is entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Seems rather simple, but happiness is a rather convoluted and abstract concept, and true happiness depends entirely on each person and their experiences and views on life, love and everything in between. Ever since the Declaration of Independence penned this infamous phrase, the American Dream was born. This Gatsby-esque view that true happiness came from wealth, power, success, and proof of that success. That green light, that beacon of hope, on the other side of the river. So full of promise and hope. The promise of a happy future, a wealthy foundation, and the comfort of wallowing in your successes. But it isn't that easy. In order to be happy you must work for it. We are all entitled to life and liberty (even though many still do not have this right, unfortunately), but that little word "pursuit" often gets overlooked. We must pursue our own happiness, which means that we must take a more active stance in discovering and preserving that new found happiness, rather than expect that happiness will just show up on our doorstep ready to be joyfully embraced. We must pursue what makes use content in order to find our happiness, because while being alive and living life freely may seem like a given, it is the concept of happiness that has left a lot of people scratching their heads.

I read this article once by a man named Cloud entitled "Happiness isn't Normal." It was an article that was recommended reading for a Psychology course, and the minute my eyes glanced at the title, I was dumbstruck. How is happiness abnormal? In a field where mental disorders are characterized as abnormal, this article was now telling me that happiness, one goal that most, if not all, people strive for, is abnormal. Whatever could this article do for me but place me in a pessimistic mood? But once I actually the read the article my eyes were opened. Is it possible that in a world, where happiness is sought out almost regularly, that perhaps we expect too much out of life and ourselves? Are we so greedy for happiness that we are making ourselves more depressed and disappointed with the current lives we lead? Cloud makes a wonderful point in stating that we so often expect happiness at every corner, that the moment issues arise and the going gets tough, we simply

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